Development of the gel coating technique for the automation of the inhibitor search by the X-ray crystal structure analysis

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25650015
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Structural biochemistry
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: TANAKA Isao 北海道大学, 先端生命科学研究科(研究院), 特任教授 (70093052)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): YAO Min 北海道大学, 大学院先端生命科学研究院, 教授 (40311518)
• Research Collaborator: SHINODA Akira
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: X線結晶解析 / 創薬 / ゲル / リガンドソーキング / SBDD

Outline of Final Research Achievements

X-ray crystallography is an important technique for structure based drug discovery, mainly because it is the only technique that can reveal whether a ligand binds to the target protein as well as where and how it binds. However, ligand screening by X-ray crystallography involves a crystal-soaking experiment, which is usually performed manually. Thus, the throughput is not satisfactory for screening large numbers of candidate ligands. In this study, a technique to anchor protein crystals to mounting loops by using gel and inkjet technology has been developed; the method allows soaking of the mounted crystals in ligand-containing solution. This new technique may assist in the design of a fully automated drug-screening pipeline.

Free Research Field

X線結晶学，構造生物学